Madison-Fremont County ID Archives Biographies.....Ricks, Nathan 1853 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 12, 2010, 10:06 pm

Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1920)

NATHAN RICKS is the vice president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Rexburg
and, moreover, is a representative of a family that has been prominently
identified with the development and upbuilding of the west for many years. He
was born in Centerville, Davis county, Utah, January 17, 1853, and is a son of
Joel and Eleanor (Martin) Ricks, who were natives of Kentucky but in 1848
crossed the plains to Utah, driving sheep and cattle along the way as they
journeyed westward. They settled at Centerville, Davis county, where Mr. Ricks
operated a sawmill in 1848. In 1849 he settled on land and began its development
and improvement. His claim was situated along a little creek, which is still
called Ricks creek. He continued the improvement of his farm until 1859, when he
removed to Logan, Cache county, Utah, and there bought other land which he
successfully cultivated throughout the remainder of his days. He passed away in
Logan in December, 1888, while the mother died on the 18th of February, 1882.

   Nathan Ricks began his education in Davis county, Utah, but was only six
years of age when his parents removed to Logan, Cache county, where he continued
his studies. His father built the first log cabin in the city of Logan, and the
family shared in all the hardships and privations of pioneer life. Nathan Ricks
continued with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-seven years, when
he took up farming on his own account by purchasing land seven miles from Logan,
in Benson ward. He then bent his energies to the tilling of the soil and year
after year gathered good crops until May, 1888, when he removed to Oneida
county, Idaho, settling at Rexburg in that part which is now Madison county. He
purchased eighty acres of land adjoining the town of Rexburg and this he
improved and has since cultivated, transforming it into rich and productive
fields. He also owns a section of dry farming land thirty miles from Rexburg,
and his four sons also own land in the same locality and are still operating
their respective properties. For twenty years, or until 1916, Nathan Ricks was
engaged in sheep raising and still has an interest in the Austin Brothers Sheep
company. Turning his attention to other lines, he became one of the organizers
of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Rexburg, of which he is now the vice
president. He is also a stockholder and one of the directors of the department
store of the Henry Flamm Company of Rexburg, and his business interests are of
such a nature and extent that he is now deriving therefrom a very substantial
income. While an active factor in sheep raising he made a specialty of handling
pure bred Cots-wold sheep and became known as one of the prominent sheepmen of
his section of the state. He also owns five acres of land in Rexburg, where he
resides, and in the early days he lived in a log cabin for a number of years. He
has gone through all of the experiences of frontier life and has lived to win a
substantial measure of prosperity as the direct reward and outcome of his
industry and perseverance.

   On the 14th of November, 1879, Mr. Ricks was married to Sarah Ann Taylor and
to them were born six children: N. Ray, Eva A., Eleanor T., Mary E., Alfred T.
and Joel E. The wife and mother passed away May 2, 1890, and Mr. Ricks was again
married on the 18th of July, 1891, to Janet McKinley. They have become the
parents of seven children: Carl V., Edna I., Owen R., Sarah J., Agnes, Francis
S. and Thora E. The eldest died September 12, 1904, but the others are all living.

   Mr. Ricks is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He
filled a two years' mission in New Zealand from 1881 until 1883 and in 1916 went
back there on a visit. He is now second counselor to President Austin of the
Fremont stake and for nineteen years he was counselor to Bishop Thomas E. Ricks
of the first ward. Politically he is an earnest republican and served for one
term as state representative from Fremont county. Following the division of the
county he was chosen state senator from Madison county and has thus been
connected with both branches of the general assembly, where his support of
progressive public measures established his position and value as a citizen.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

IDAHO
DELUXE SUPPLEMENT
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1920


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